Ever since acquiring Aaron Rodgers from the Green Bay Packers, the New York Jets have been waiting for the quarterback to return to something even remotely close to MVP form. They’ve waited so long it’s cost them a head coach, an offensive play-caller, multiple draft picks and spendy contracts for Rodgers’ friends, and now, more than likely, a 14th straight season without a playoff appearance. Talk about a “win-now” effort gone wrong!
The question many tired Jets fans are openly wondering: What now? Rodgers is 40 and, for arguably the first time in his future Hall of Fame career, fully looks his age. No amount of his brainy but increasingly deflated off-field pep talks appears capable of reviving his sluggish mobility or absent comfortability inside an organization that knows painful defeat much better than hard-earned victory.
It’s hard to believe Rodgers’ recent admission that he’d still like to play in 2025 was muttered with any real sense of conviction, but even if the former star does try another go-round, it’s possible the rest of Jets leadership will be packing their bags without him, as interim coach Jeff Ulbrich and general manager Joe Douglas are among logical casualties of this wretched season. Which begs the follow-up question: Could the Jets say thanks but no thanks? Is there a feasible way for New York to move on from its failed, aging savior?
Barring retirement, Rodgers is due $23.5 million in 2025, the final year of the restructured three-year deal he signed with the Jets. As of now, New York couldn’t outright release or trade Rodgers immediately following 2024 without paying an exorbitant price; cutting or trading him would result in a loss of $25.5 million, or roughly the majority of the Jets’ entire projected 2025 salary cap, pending additional cuts. That won’t happen.
Rodgers could, however, be designated a post-June 1 cut, which would actually save the Jets $9.5 million against the 2025 cap, freeing his deal from the books. The team would get the same savings if it literally held Rodgers on the roster until June 1, then traded him afterward. It seems unlikely anyone would come calling with a premium offer for a struggling 41-year-old signal-caller, even as a modest short-term rental, and especially when said quarterback is known to have such a strong sway on coaching and personnel decisions; would Rodgers even sign off on relocating, when he went through such pains to orchestrate his move specifically to the Jets?
All signs point to one of two scenarios unfolding: Rodgers finally stepping away from the game, as so many Packers fans hoped he might do following the 2022 season, or the Jets stepping away from Rodgers’ remaining contract. Unless, of course, the grizzled gunslinger finally, after all this trouble, delivers on the hype to end 2024.
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Author: Cody Benjamin
November 18, 2024 | 10:36 am
